Land Use Ordinances

A land use ordinance adopts, amends or repeals provisions of the Washington County Comprehensive Plan, which includes the Community Plans, the Transportation System Plan, the Community Development Code and/or related maps, or otherwise directly governs the use of land. Per Washington County's Charter, "land use ordinance season" is from March 1 through Oct. 31 each calendar year. All hearings on land use ordinances must be held within the ordinance season, and no land use ordinance shall be adopted after Oct. 31. If a final decision on a land use ordinance has not been reached by Oct. 31, the ordinance shall be deemed rejected unless the Board of Commissioners, by affirmative action, continues the ordinance to a time and date certain on or after March 1 of the subsequent year.

Ordinance hearings are held in the auditorium of the Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building at the address below. You may provide oral or written testimony to the Planning Commission and/or the Board at one of the public hearings or you may send testimony, including email, with the author's name and address to:

To receive email updates on these land use ordinances, please select 2016 Land Use Ordinances, under the subheading of Land Use & Transportation, at our County e-subscriptions web page. You can also receive mailed notice of all filed land use ordinances for the current year for an annual fee of $8.00. Please fill out and mail in the Annual Land Use Notice subscription form.